Confident of realising 'vast' opportunities with US: EAM Jaishankar

India welcomes the India-US trade deal as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets Marco Rubio, but New Delhi remains cautious on US-Pak ties, visas and Quad plans

A day after United States President Donald Trump announced the much-awaited trade deal with India, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday will meet US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, ahead of an inaugural ministerial meeting on critical minerals.

 

During the visit, Jaishankar will also hold meetings with senior members of the US administration, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

 

On Tuesday, Jaishankar said the India-US trade deal will spur growth in both economies and boost ‘Make in India’. “This will create more jobs, spur growth and promote innovation in both economies. It will strengthen ‘Make in India’ endeavours and encourage trusted technology ties. The opportunities in our economic engagement are truly vast and we are confident of realising them. A robust economic relationship is the strongest foundation for our strategic partnership,” he said in a post on X.

‘Concerns remain’

After almost nine months of engaging with an unpredictable White House, where the MEA showed significant restraint to keep the tempestuous New Delhi-Washington relations at an even keel, sources in the government were enthused by the India-US trade deal, but also circumspect about the possibility of hosting the Quad Summit this year.

 

Sources said the announcement about clinching the India-US trade deal would help bring the bilateral relationship to normalcy when it was threatening to get derailed after two and half decades of close and growing strategic ties. They added that despite the trade deal, India’s concerns in its relations with the US remain, including on the closer US-Pakistan ties, and on the restrictions on H1B visas to Indians.   

 

New Delhi’s effort would be to continue to consolidate India-US relations, as it is doing with the EU, since it considers both long-term partners rather than China. 

 

Despite the disagreements on the issue of Pakistan and on immigration, and the impasse on the trade deal, India-US military ties had remained robust during the past few months. The India-US joint military exercise took place in Alaska in September. Several US Senators and Congressmen have visited India in recent weeks, while the Iowa Governor, Kim Reynolds, was in Mumbai in September.

 

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) welcomed the trade deal, stating that it will also be central to advancing a stable, resilient, and rules-based Indo-Pacific. 

 

However, sources said the India-US relations, after the recent events, New Delhi will approach ties with Washington with more circumspection. They added that India will try to consult all the Quad partners to see whether its Summit could be held in India this year. India was scheduled to host the Summit in 2025.

 

In a related development, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow that Russia has not heard any statements from India about stopping Russian oil purchases.